[Guy 13]

Hi all.
Today it’s Sunday and for me Sunday is my only day off of the whole week, so, what do I do on Sunday?
Audio stuff of course.
I have a small Sony CD/FM/amplifier that I bought 13 years ago and still work fine.
I think that’s before Sony decided to offer his customers some cheap stuff.
I paid at Sony House (Montreal, Canada) 650.00 $ for the main unit with two bookshelves speakers and a small sub-woofer.
I decided to try that solid state 15wpc unit on my Omega 7F and OBD (Open Baffle Dipole) double 12” subwoofers driven with GR Research SA-1 250watts ss plate amplifier.
I found the Sony to have a wider sound stage, but less deep.
The bass, even if the ss plate amplifier is taking care of the bass to be muddy and the mids and highs, without being bad, they were not the quality of the Decware SE84C+ 2wpc SET.
The over all sound quality of the Decware is more natural, clearer with more details, even the bass is better, less muddy, and tighter.
Not that the Sony is not good, but given the choice, I choose the Decware.
I recommend the Decware to drive the Omega speakers and I recommend adding a subwoofer if you like bass like me. You can live without a subwoofer, but once you have one, you don’t want to let it go.
The Decware set at 1.5wpc (3pm) and the Sony set at 7wpc, (17/30) both sounds at the same level, if the Sony digital volume scale is linear. 
Again, I will repeat myself by saying that I am very happy with my Decware/Omega combo.

Guy 13 on planet Vietnam.

[ttan98]

Hi,

What is the x-over frequency you set between the Omega and the Woofer? Your woofer looks like the woofer I use, i.e. Eminence woofer from GR Research.
Also did you use a measuring device to set the x-over freq., I don't think the Omega will go down to very low I suspect  not even  flat at 300 Hz. If you use a measuring device to set the x-over freq. you will be surprise the sonic balance will be different.

Looks like you are enjoying your set-up good luck.

[RDavidson]

One of these days I want to give the little Decware a try with my Omegas. I'm in no rush, but when I come across one at a good price and the time is right, I'm going to jump on it.

[Guy 13]

Hi,

What is the x-over frequency you set between the Omega and the Woofer? Your woofer looks like the woofer I use, i.e. Eminence woofer from GR Research.
Also did you use a measuring device to set the x-over freq., I don't think the Omega will go down to very low I suspect  not even  flat at 300 Hz. If you use a measuring device to set the x-over freq. you will be surprise the sonic balance will be different.

Looks like you are enjoying your set-up good luck.

Hi ttan98
The woofers were purchased from GR Research,
but they are 12" Eminence Acoustinator connected in parallel
driven by GR Research SA-1 ss plate amplifier at 250 watts.
A long time ago I did some measurements,
but now, forgot what they were.
The Omega are full range directly from my Decware 2wpc SET amplifier
and the SA-1 plate amplifier's cross-over
is set at 80 Hz and the volume is set at 50%.
I tried many different setting and this is the one that I like the most
because they sounds exactly to my liking, very natural, lots of micro details,
not fatiguing at all.

Guy 13
     

[ttan98]

Guy,

Please take this as a suggestion not a criticism, the Omega driver is too small to go down to very low frequency response esp. in an small to medium size baffle in an open baffle configuration. The lowest freq. my guess would be flat till 500-700 Hz then it starts to drop off. If you cross around 80Hz you would miss the freq. response hence music around 500-100Hz, i.e. the lower to mid bass.

[RDavidson]

Guy,

Please take this as a suggestion not a criticism, the Omega driver is too small to go down to very low frequency response esp. in an small to medium size baffle in an open baffle configuration. The lowest freq. my guess would be flat till 500-700 Hz then it starts to drop off. If you cross around 80Hz you would miss the freq. response hence music around 500-100Hz, i.e. the lower to mid bass.

Well, not necessarily. I agree there will likely be a dip in frequency response, but a lot of that will depend on his room as well. If the RS5 is getting a little bit of reinforcement from the back wall, I can see how Guy might actually be getting a decent blend at the listening seat. Also, I haven't heard the Decware, but if it is full sounding in the mids and lower mids, this may also help with getting a good blend. There are a lot of things at play, not just the speakers and drivers.

[Guy 13]

Guy,

Please take this as a suggestion not a criticism, the Omega driver is too small to go down to very low frequency response esp. in an small to medium size baffle in an open baffle configuration. The lowest freq. my guess would be flat till 500-700 Hz then it starts to drop off. If you cross around 80Hz you would miss the freq. response hence music around 500-100Hz, i.e. the lower to mid bass.

Hi ttan98.
I will take whatever you will throw at me,
suggestion, recommendations, criticism constructive or other.
No problem.
I might be wrong, won't be the first time and surely not the last time,
but I would think that the Omega 7F would be able to go down to at least 100Hz. Maybe you should ask Canada Rob about that.
By the way, my Omega is a 7" not a 5"
Please come back here with more info on the crossover point
for the Omega 7F, I am highly interested in your findings.
Thanks.

Guy 13 on planet Vietnam.
   

[Guy 13]

Well, not necessarily. I agree there will likely be a dip in frequency response, but a lot of that will depend on his room as well. If the RS5 is getting a little bit of reinforcement from the back wall, I can see how Guy might actually be getting a decent blend at the listening seat. Also, I haven't heard the Decware, but if it is full sounding in the mids and lower mids, this may also help with getting a good blend. There are a lot of things at play, not just the speakers and drivers.

Hi R.
First, I want to say (Again) that I own the Omega 7F, therefore,
I don't own the RS5 which is 5"
Regardless of the crossing point for the Omega 7F vs subwoofer,
I am extremely happy with the sound,
that's the sound I've been looking for for decades...
Now that I've found it,
I am reluctant to change any settings or anything at all,
unless it's something minor that can be undo easily.
On December the 17th, there will be an AC members from Holland
that will come to my house
and I will ask him his (Honest) opinion on how my system sounds,
just to see if I'm off the track.
Thanks for your comments, always appreciated.

Guy 13 on planet Vietnam.
 

[steve f]

As a former Decware owner I wish to offer a cautionary tale. I made a mistake when I ordered my amp. I purchased it to use with my Horn Shoppe Horns. Since the single driver Horns are an eight ohm device, I ordered the amp with high impedance 8-16 Ohm transformers. The combo was lifeless.  I sold the amp and switched to a Transcendent Sound single ended OTL. This was a better match. If I had ordered the Decware with standard transformers I would have had a great match. I wondered as to why the decware didn't work as ordered. At a Zenfest years ago we had a Transcendent Sound preamp, mine, a Decware amp, Steve Deckert's, and Hornshoppe Horns, from Randy in Caintuck. The sound was killer. I mean jaw dropping good. Everybody stopped what they were doing to listen.

So go ahead and Buy the baby Decware amp. Make sure you get the standard output transformers. The reason it works better that way? Light loading. Roger Modjeski has written much on the subject. The other little amp, the single ended OTL is no longer available, and rarely come up for sale.

[Wind Chaser]

About 12 -13 years ago I had a Decware Zen driving Ed Schilling's Horns. The sound was spectacular, especially with respect to the soundstage and imaging. However to get the sound as refined as I had it, I had to employ a few tweaks. One of those tweaks included Paul Spletz ZERO Autoformers wired in reverse so the amp deemed the Horns as a 2 ohm load. Seems like an odd thing to do, but this arrangement allowed the Zen to push more power into the Horns due to the much lower impedance. It also sounded fuller and more flush with the Autoformers than without. There were a number of other tricks employed like Jack Bybee's Quantum Purifiers, Herbie's Halo's, and direct wire to wire contact from the amps output transformers to the leads on the Fostex. The end result was spectacular... so much so that when I had advertised my Horns in the Classifieds and a fellow came over to hear them... he was so impressed with what he heard he insisted I sell him the entire system as is.

I'm 100% certain that the Zen can mate just as well with Omega's or any other single driver that is reasonably efficient. In fact I do plan on buying another Decware amp. I simply haven't heard anything at any price that sounds as big and 3 dimensional.

[steve f]

Windchaser your experience parallels mine. The small Decware is the best sounding of their line. At least not including their most expensive amps which I haven't heard. Transcendent sound makes wonderful amps, but they are kits. You will be rewarded for soldering. And finally if anyone wants to sling solder, consider the amp camp amps. These are all really really good for single driver and high efficiency speakers. There are very expensive designs that don't come close.

Steve